


Would You Love Me Less?

by CyrusDragon



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Abusive May Parker (Spider-Man), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Avengers Family, Domestic Avengers, Endgame never happens, Fight Club - Freeform, Hurt Peter Parker, Infinity War never happens, No Romantic Pairings as of this moment, Not Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant, Out of Character May Parker (Spider-Man), Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Avengers, Protective Tony Stark, Teen Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Underage Drug Use, but only after a lot of angst, money problems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2020-09-02 02:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20268589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyrusDragon/pseuds/CyrusDragon
Summary: Peter changed a lot. He knew he did. He went from the nerdy fourteen-year-old kid who built Star Wars LEGO sets and had a bright future to an enhanced fifteen-year-old who smoked pot and would probably get himself killed before his eighteenth birthday.***Faced with losing his apartment, Peter joins an enhanced fight club and struggles with keeping it a secret from his mentor, Tony Stark.





	1. Broken Promises

"They're coming back, Tony."

"What?" Tony looked up from his workshop table to find Rhodey staring at him. He must have used his override code to unlock the lab doors because Tony was sure he had told FRIDAY not to let anyone in. When Rhodey didn't immediately reply, he turned his attention back towards the new repulsors on his work-table.

"The Rogues," Rhodey responded after a brief silence, "the President pardoned them. They're coming back tomorrow."

Tony froze, head whipping back up to stare, horrified, at his best friend.

"Why didn't you-"

Rhodey cringed, looking extremely apologetic. "I'm sorry man, they only just told me today. Apparently, they were concerned you would try to block negotiations…" He trailed off when he saw the look of fury on Tony's face.

"Negotiations? Negotiations! Where the fuck were these negotiations when I was trying to keep this team together? Huh? Steve prefers negotiating with the President than his friend? Fine, whatever." Tony slammed the half-finished repulsor on to the workbench and sprung up, pacing angrily around his workshop as Rhodey watched warily.

Eventually getting tired of his friend's antics, Rhodey stood up, getting in Tony's way and putting his hands up in surrender.

"Look, Tones, I hate that I was assigned to ask you this, believe me, but I have to. And you don't really have a choice, so, me asking is actually just a courtesy, and-" Tony cut him off with a glare. 

"What is it Ross wants now? My company?" Rhodey pursed his lips, and Tony gave him a disbelieving stare.

"Not your _entire_ company, just one building?" Rhodey watched as realization dawned on Tony, then anger.

"He wants Stark Tower to for them to stay at? Hell no. Absolutely fucking not." Tony spat the words venomously, furious at the audacity of the Rogue Avengers to even request such a thing.

"I'm sorry, there just isn't another place for them all to stay besides the compound. And the President wants the Avengers in the public eye so they can win back support. The Tower is the only place." Rhodey smiled sympathetically. Tony sighed in defeat; he knew that if he refused, Ross would be up his ass about it till the end of time.

"You don't have to meet with them, or even interact with them at all if you don't want to," Rhodey offered hesitantly. Tony looked tempted by the offer but shook his head.

"You know I have to be there, Rhodey. Besides, the point is to win back the public's trust. We need a united front for that." Tony shrugged, still tense, but Rhodey's smile widened.

"Perfect, so you'll greet them with me tomorrow morning then?" Rhodey asked. Tony sighed like he would rather do anything else, but nodded in affirmation.

"Do' ya think I should bring the kid along?" Tony asked suddenly as Rhodey turned to leave.

Rhodey winced, "Probably not, just wait until their comfortable before introducing them to a groupie. Yeah?" Tony laughed at the description of his protège.

"Bye Tones," Rhodey called behind him, hearing the yelling sounds of Tony beginning to tinker with whatever project he had interrupted him on. As the man closed the door, he glanced back at his friend.

"Hey, FRIDAY?"

"Yes, Colonel Rhodes?" the A.I. responded.

"Make sure Tony goes to bed on time, ok? He doesn't need to be sleep-deprived on top of everything else tomorrow." Rhodey smiled fondly as he made his way to the elevator.

"Of course, sir." The A.I. sounded all too pleased to be assigned the task.

***

Peter blew the smoke out into the cold night air, the burn in his lungs warming his chest. He looked out at the city lights and relished the feeling of sitting atop a skyscraper, far from any worries or problems Peter Parker had. Here he was just Spider-Man, smoking a joint at 3 am high above the streets. Nothing could touch him here.

Taking a longer drag, he held the smoke in his lungs until he felt dizzy. Peter exhaled and was hit with the high he was chasing. He smiled a bit at the lightheaded, pleasant, hazy feeling that never seemed to last long enough.

As he continued to smoke, his muscles loosened, the tension in his body slowly eased, and a headache he hadn't even realized he had went away. For the first time all day, he felt _relaxed_. He felt _good_.

"Fuck," he whispered to himself. Peter knew that he shouldn't be doing this, that the Aunt May from before Ben's death would have been furious with him. But that May was gone. In her place was a shell of a human being that popped pills and drank too much wine.

After Uncle Ben died Peter knew everything would change, but then May got hooked on pills, and he became Spider-Man, and Tony Stark took him to Germany, and- 

Well, everything did change.

Peter changed a lot. He knew he did. He went from the nerdy fourteen-year-old kid who built Star Wars LEGO sets and had a bright future to an enhanced fifteen-year-old who smoked pot and would probably get himself killed before his eighteenth birthday. 

Peter missed the old him sometimes. Especially when he saw Ned glance at him sadly in hallways, wondering why his friend had suddenly stopped talking to him and started skipping school. Even when May was occasionally sober when Peter came home, and she'd have cooked dinner, maybe put on some music. And he could only slip into his room silently before changing into his suit to swing out into the night. Guilt burning in his chest, but not enough to make him turn around. Because it was fleeting.

He couldn't get hurt again. Peter couldn't keep having to hide secrets from Ned, to see his face fall every time he said he couldn't hang out. Peter couldn't keep pretending everything was fine at home, to have to watch Aunt May slip right back into her old habits. Peter was done, and that old him was dead. 

But he wasn't Peter right now, so he didn't think about those things. He was Spider-Man.

Not that Spider-Man should be smoking weed either, but as long as no one saw him, it didn't really matter. Peter knew that he was spiraling a bit, but he figured that if no one bothered to catch him, then he wasn't worth it anyway.


	2. Safety Nets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter returns home, only to find that May has some news that will once again throw his life off balance.

"Peter?" May slurred as he entered their small, shitty, Queens apartment. Slamming the front door shut behind him as went. Peter didn't pause to acknowledge his Aunt, who was clearly high off her ass and instead continued to his room.

"Peter! Where the fuck have you been? I was soo worried about you!"

That made him pause. When May was like this, she rarely expressed concern for his well being, hell, she usually forgot he existed at all. Glancing back at her, Peter cautiously turned away from his room.

"I was out. Why do you care?" Despite trying to keep his tone civil, the question left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.

His Aunt's face twisted in annoyance, but she quickly pasted a sweet smile over her expression. "Because I love you! You know how much I love you," she stumbled to her feet and made to hug him, backing off slightly when he dodged. "You're my only family, and-"

Peter scoffed at her, cutting her off. "What do you want? Money? I don't have any, sorry," he started to turn when suddenly the back of his neck tingled slightly. Peter threw himself out of the way as an empty wine bottle smashed on the wall, right where his head had been seconds earlier.

"What the fuck?" he yelled as he swiveled around to stare at his Aunt. May looked just as angry, her eyes dull and flat from her high, but still shining with fury.

"You ungrateful little brat! What? Stark doesn't pay his whores enough to share with their families? Or are you just a greedy little slut?" Spittle flew from her mouth as she screamed, and Peter flushed with anger and embarrassment. His hands clenched hard enough to snap steel.

"I'm not-" Peter stopped mid-sentence, as May continued her hysterics, realizing it was pointless. His Aunt didn't give a shit about what he had to say to defend himself.

"Are you going to go live with your sugar daddy when we lose the apartment?" His head snapped up in confusion at his Aunt's question. She continued to ramble, but that sentence made something in his stomach drop.

"Wait- what do you mean when we lose our apartment? Why would we lose our apartment?" he felt ice-cold fear in his veins when his Aunt burst into cruel laughter.

"Oh yeah, guess what? I lost my job today! Surprise!" she giggled helplessly, "failed a drug test!" She flopped back onto the couch still wracked with laughter, before abruptly dissolving into sobs. Peter's mouth was suddenly dry as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

"How did you- _ May _," he felt his eyes burn as they filled with unshed tears for an aunt that must have died with his uncle because the pitiful woman that was in front of him couldn't possibly have been her. He practically ran to his room, not waiting for an answer from his Aunt. His enhanced strength nearly broke the door when he slammed it shut with too much force.

***

Peter was sprawled across his bed and staring blankly up at his ceiling, tears long gone. The reality of the situation had hit him hard, he would have to get a job. Like a _ real _ job, not just one of those after-school jobs that privileged teenagers got when their parents told them they needed to "get their hands dirty." Peter needed a real, family-supporting job to keep May and him afloat. His mind raced as he considered his options. Should he drop out of school? His heart squeezed painfully in his chest at the thought, he had still had hope that he'd maybe get a scholarship and be able to go to a good college, maybe one day get a job at Stark Industries. While that was highly unlikely considering his attendance records since becoming Spider-Man, some part of him had never given up that dream.

But that part of him was supposed to be dead and gone, so Peter decided to ignore it.

Even so, dropping out of school wasn't really feasible. After googling the legal logistics of doing so, Peter found that he couldn't even legally drop out until the end of his junior year, which wasn't at all helpful considering he was only just finishing his sophomore year, so he dropped the idea. Peter pushed away the thought that perhaps he gave up on that route so quickly because he didn't truly want to stop going to school. Besides, he had all summer to figure out a plan to fit school into whatever his new schedule would be.

Of course, there was also the internship. It wasn't super regular, and it served mostly as a cover for Spider-Man, but occasionally Mr. Stark invited Peter to the Tower to work on the Spider-Suit together in his lab. Sometimes Mr. Stark even had him offer his opinion on whatever suit Mark he was working on. Peter was ashamed to admit that he had acted like a total weirdo each time he had been to Mr. Stark's lab, tripping over anything and everything, dropping things, _ expensive _ things, and just generally making a complete fool of himself. Peter knew how lucky he was to get the opportunity to work with Mr. Stark at all, but the reality was that the internship, if you could even call it that, was unpaid, and that wasn't going to help him.

Peter was absolutely not about to ask for a salary from Mr. Stark for being Spider-Man, that would be stupid, so the only option was to significantly cut back his Spider-Manning, if not stopping entirely.

He could hear Uncle Ben's words, "with great power comes great responsibility," echoing in his head, but he quickly shook the feeling of guilt off. His uncle had no right to make him feel bad about this, he _ died. _ And now Peter was left dealing with Aunt May, working to pay the bills, and somehow maintaining his grades. Spider-Man just didn't have a place in that, which sucked considering how Peter relied on his time as the vigilante to de-stress and just _ not be Peter Parker _ for a little while. But he could survive, and so would New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thx for reading!


	3. Hellos and Goodbyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rogues are back in New York and Tony has to deal with it, and Spider-Man is on his last patrol when he runs into a friend.

Thaddeus Ross walked like he had metal rod stuffed up his ass, Tony decided as the Secretary of State approached him.

“Stark, good to see you,” the Secretary inclined his head in greeting, lying through his teeth. Tony decided to play along.

“Mr. Secretary, of course. It’s been too long, really, we should have dinner sometime. I’m sure Pepper would love to have you,” Tony said sarcastically, flashing a fake smile. Ross just rolled his eyes in response.

“Tony,” Rhodey nudged him warningly, “ _ behave. _ ” Tony shrugged and gave his best friend an innocent look.

They stood by the helicopter landing pad atop Avengers Tower awaiting the arrival of the Rogue Avengers from Wakanda.

American lawmakers had been less than pleased to find that the T’Challa had allowed the Rogues to claim asylum in his country. But there wasn’t much they could do without pissing off the other country. Instead, efforts were focused on the push to amend the Accords. After exposing the U.S. for creating the Raft and using it to unlawfully imprison the Rogue Avengers without a trial, Tony worked tirelessly with the U.N. and the U.S. government to fix the accords. That was the plan from the beginning, and that’s why it hurt him more then he could admit that Steve went over his head to negotiate the Rogues’ freedom.

It wasn’t like Tony couldn’t understand why Steve did it. Things were still awkward between them, and Cap probably didn’t know whether Tony would even help him. They were valid concerns, Tony was still furious with him for keeping the fact that Hydra had killed his parents from him. But that didn’t change that they were  _ friends _ , or at least they used to be. And he didn’t appreciate when friends went behind his back to the government and forced him to loan his tower to them.

Tony was ripped from his thoughts at the sound of a chopper. Looking up, he watched as the military helicopter hovered over the building before beginning its descent. Rhodey, Ross, himself, and Vision, who had been standing stiffly during the other men’s exchange, all took steps back to avoid getting blown back by the force of the rotors. The Rogues were coming from D.C. where they had met with the President and signed the amended accords, and of course, Cap had gotten his picture taken shaking hands with the President. It was already all over the news.

The chopper finally landed, the door opened and off stepped the man of the hour, Captain America himself.

As soon as Steve’s feet touched the ground, he was already surveying the rooftop with the critical eye of a soldier searching for threats. Tony just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Honestly, did he think that the President sent him to New York just to get blown up by Iron Man? Although Tony admitted that he had thought of it briefly.

Seemingly determining that it was safe, Steve eventually stepped away from the chopper, allowing the other occupants to get off behind him. Natasha was first, then Sam, then Wanda, and then, finally, Barnes. Tony had made his peace with the fact that Barnes had murdered his parents. He knew that it wasn’t the man’s fault, it was Hydra’s, and he solely blamed them. That didn’t stop him from flinching slightly as soon as the man made eye contact with him.

Tony almost felt bad when Barnes’ eyes immediately dropped to the ground in shame. Then Steve shot him a glare, so he didn’t feel as bad. He also didn’t enjoy the pitying look Natasha sent him.

The group made there way over to where the two men plus Vision were standing. Everyone was quiet for a moment, waiting to see who would make the first move, and Tony wished desperately that Pepper had been able to be there. She would have taken charge immediately, but he supposed that if no one else was going to say something, he should start off.

“Well,” Tony coughed awkwardly, “welcome back?” Rhodey snorted, and the tension in the group lessened a little bit.

Natasha smiled in a way that Toney couldn’t tell whether it was real or fake. “Tony,” she nodded at him in response, “glad to be back.” The silence returned for half a second, Wanda glowered at Tony and studiously ignored the intense stare of Vision. Sam shifted awkwardly, and Barnes refused to make eye contact with anyone. Steve seemed to notice how uncomfortable his team was and opened his mouth to say something. Tony beat him to it.

“Ok, well Secretary Ross is here to lay down some guidelines to improve our favorability in the eyes of the public, and then after that why don’t I give you a quick tour and then you can all get settled in.” Without waiting for a reply, Tony clapped his hands together and made his way inside. Everyone followed after him.

***

It was a slow night, a few muggings, one stabbing, and some gunshots that he couldn’t find the source of. All in all, a pretty dull patrol and not the best way to finish off being Spider-Man, however temporary the break might be. Peter supposed that it was horrible for him to think that and that as a superhero he should  _ hope _ for slow nights, but then again he also didn’t give a shit.

It was warm, as could be expected for the end of May, and Peter was thankful that he had his new Stark suit instead of the sweats he had been using before which had made him feel like he was being cooked in an oven.

A smashing sound and a car alarm going off snapped Peter from his thoughts. He swung over and landed on the sidewalk and sucked in a surprised breath when he saw what had made the alarm trigger.

There was a body, obviously dropped from a great height, smashed into the hood of the car. Peter instantly knew the man was dead, the lack of a heartbeat and the absence of the rise and fall of the man’s chest indicated as so. His whole body tensed as he went into defensive mode, spinning around and gazing up at the building where the man must have been thrown from. Belatedly, he realized he could hear the sound of blows, panting, and grunts, meaning that the fight that had led to this man’s death was still occurring.

Shooting a web on to the edge of the building, Peter jumped up, using the web to create enough momentum to flip up on to the roof of the building before surveying the scene in front of him. There were only two men in black still standing, three others were (hopefully) knocked out, and the fourth was the one Peter had discovered dead moments before. 

Peter sighed in relief when he saw who the other figure, the one who had evidently fought all these guys single-handedly, was. He didn’t approve of Daredevil’s methods, particularly of his willingness to kill, maim, and torture. But Peter did trust that the man only ever used such methods on those who truly deserved it. He knew that the people Daredevil fought and the crime rings he took down were way out of Spider-Man’s expertise and ability.

He watched the struggle continue for a couple of seconds, trying to determine whether his help was needed (or appreciated). Peter quickly noticed that Daredevil was favoring his left leg, and the fight did not seem to be going well. He decided that it was best that he intervene, whether or not the other vigilante got angry at him for it. With a flick of each wrist, he webbed both guys’ feet to the ground.

“Two against one?” he shouted out as he came closer, “that’s not fair! Mind if I even it out?” The thugs’ heads whipped around as they turned to stare at the newcomer, Daredevil didn’t even flinch at Peter’s voice. Nor did he hesitate when a distraction presented itself, knocking them both out in seconds.

Pausing to catch his breath for a few seconds, Daredevil finally acknowledged him. “Thanks, kid, was wondering if you were just gonna stand there and watch.” It always annoyed him that the other man had some sort of super-sense even more impressive than his own, even Peter could never manage to sneak up on him.

Peter also didn’t appreciate the sass Daredevil was giving him. “Oh! So you  _ wanted  _ me to help you this time? It’s not like you had  _ ever _ given me mixed signals about whether or not to ‘interfere,’ your words, in whatever it is you-” Peter was interrupted from his rant when the other man waved his hand in the air dismissively.

“Yeah ok, I get it. But sometimes you join in on fights that you can’t handle and then I have to focus on saving your ass instead of what I was supposed to be doing,” Daredevil chuckled when all Peter responded with was an indignant huff. He wasn’t a  _ child _ .

They stood in silence for a couple of seconds before Peter got bored.

“So, why are you fighting these guys? What’d they do? Do y’ know that one of them’s dead? He smashed into a car, and we should probably call the police or something. Also are you hurt? You looked like you were favoring your left leg a bit. Do you want me to take you to a hospital?” Daredevil let loose an exasperated sigh, and Peter realized he had started rambling. He was glad that the other man couldn’t see how his face turned red with embarrassment. Daredevil seemed to sense it though and laughed again.

“Calm down, kid. The guys are security guards for this building. I need some information, and I was going to steal it tonight, but it looks like I’ll have to come back,” he gestured towards his injured leg as an explanation.

Peter frowned to himself, he didn’t like the idea of Daredevil coming back by himself when there would surely be more guards and higher security after this attack.

“Can I help?” he asked hesitantly. Daredevil stiffened slightly, already shaking his head in disapproval.

“But if you come back later, there will be more guards, and they’ll be on higher alert after this. If we go now, we have a likelier chance of succeeding. I’ll make up for your injuries. Besides, this doesn’t seem too difficult, I took those guys out easily enough.” Peter thought his logic made perfect sense, and Daredevil seemed to agree because he hesitated a moment before relenting.

“Fine, follow me, and keep quiet. This is stealth mission, they won’t have noticed these guys missing yet, and I doubt they’ll have heard the car alarm go off. It pretty noisy down there.” Daredevil directed him towards a locked metal door, and Peter pulled it off its hinges.

“Noisy down where?” Peter asked dubiously. But with the door gone, he quickly heard what Daredevil was referring to. Uproarious cheering and inhuman screeches drifted softly from far below, only audible to people with enhanced senses. Whatever was down there was very,  _ very _ loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!


	4. Desperate Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Daredevil go on an adventure and Peter gets a terrible, horrible idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long! I got really busy with school and now with this whole pandemic thing... well it's been a lot. I hope you all are safe and well and that you enjoy the update. Thank you so much for the comments; they inspire me to keep writing!

As the two vigilantes crept down the seemingly never-ending staircase, Peter couldn’t help but slowly become more and more agitated. He was practically buzzing with anticipation by the time they reached the base of the stairs, a long grey hallway that stretched out in front of them.

“Kid.” Daredevil’s deep baritone voice had Peter’s head snapping up instantly. “You need to calm down, I can  _ feel _ you vibrating in that suit from here. If you can’t chill out, I swear to God I’ll leave you. And I’m Catholic, so don’t think I’m kidding.” Peter flushed deeply, thankful for the trillionth time that people couldn’t see his face under the mask.

“Sorry.” Peter couldn’t see Daredevil’s eyes, but he assumed that he rolled them. The two vigilantes came to a stop in front of a set of large metal doors. The sound that he had heard from the roof was deafening now, even with the doors muffling it a bit. Daredevil didn’t say anything for a long moment, so Peter cleared his throat.

“So... what now?” he asked, not bothering to raise his voice because he knew that Daredevil would be able to hear him despite the screaming. The older man let out a sigh.

“This door leads into the basement, where the action is, so we can’t go through it without being seen, which is exactly what we don’t want.” He knelt on the floor and felt along the lower part of the wall. A moment of silence passed as he did this, and Peter cleared his throat.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Peter asked hesitantly, worried that the older vigilante would be angry at the interruption. Daredevil didn’t react to his voice, and a moment later, he was suddenly standing and looking up at the ceiling. Another long moment passed, and Peter considered the possibility that Daredevil had lost his mind when all of a sudden, the man spoke.

“Is there a vent on the ceiling?” Peter’s head whipped up to look and saw that there was indeed a vent on the ceiling. But why would Daredevil ask him that? Can he not see it for himself?

“Are you blind?” Peter blurted out before his brain could make the connection that asking a personal question right at this moment wasn’t the smartest thing to do. “Um, actually nevermind, ignore my question. Yes, there is a vent on the ceiling. Why? Wait! If you’re blind, how did you know?” Peter nearly slammed his palm to his forehead, he had just decided not to ask personal questions!

Before Peter could apologize, Daredevil let out a soft laugh.

“Yes, technically, I’m blind.” Daredevil explained, “I have enhanced senses though, and I could feel the draft from the vent, I just couldn’t tell where it was coming from. The noise is throwing off some of my senses.” Peter nodded at the explanation and held in all the additional questions that flooded his brain. Then he remembered that the other man couldn’t see him.

“Oh! Yeah! Sorry, I forgot, and I nodded, but then I realized-” Daredevil laughed again, and Peter fell silent, blushing hard.

“Now,” Daredevil started, “You can stick to stuff, right? Can you climb up there and take off the grille?” Peter, thrilled to be of some use, assured the man he could easily stick to the ceiling and then rip the grille off of the screws.

He jumped on to the ceiling, higher than would be possible for a normal human, but easy for Peter to accomplish. At first, he tried to get his fingers between the edges of the grille and ceiling but quickly found that he couldn’t. Instead, he punched straight through the middle and then ripped the rest off using the hole he had made with his fist.

“Done!” he exclaimed and looked down at Daredevil, who had been silent as the boy worked. The man nodded and then seemed to think about something for a moment before coming to a conclusion.

“Can you hoist me up? Normally I’d just jump, but it sounds high, and my leg’s injured.” He looked uncomfortable, asking for help, but Peter was delighted that his presence was so helpful.

“Of course,” Peter let his feet stick to the ceiling before dropping down and reaching for Daredevil, “Can you reach towards me? I’ll just pull you up.” Daredevil nodded and did as instructed, and Peter grabbed the man’s wrists and lifted him until he could grab the edge of the air duct.

After Daredevil climbed in, Peter followed and crawled after the man who had already started moving with what seemed like a destination in mind.

“So, do you know where we’re going?” Peter asked after crawling for a few minutes, his knees already beginning to ache. The booming cheers were steadily increasing in volume as they crawled.

“I do, I’m following the noise. Hopefully, the duct won’t give out beneath our weight.” Peter swallowed nervously at Daredevil’s nonchalant mentioning of them possibly crashing through the ceiling.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Daredevil paused, and Peter realized they had stopped in front of another vent.

A vent that seemed to be just over whatever crowd was making the thunderous cheers.

The older man contorted his body to turn around so that both vigilantes to look through the vent to see into the room below. 

Able to get a glance for the first time, Peter eagerly shoved his nose up against the grille to get a good look. He gasped when he saw what was beneath them.

“What the hell are they doing?” Peter blurted. Below them was a large ring of sorts, and the crowd they had been hearing surrounded it, cheering on occupants. 

And the two people inside the ring were beating the absolute shit out of each other.

Peter had seen some pretty messed up stuff as Spiderman and had beaten up his fair share of criminals, but he had never seen this level of sheer brutality.

“Welcome to the Freak Den, where rich criminals pay exorbitant amounts of money to watch enhanced individuals kick the crap out of each other,” Daredevil said scornfully, his lips pressed in a firm line. Peter gaped down at the scene below them, noticing for the first time that the people fighting weren’t... normal.

One of them was a sturdy brunette woman with a large gash on the side of her face. She was incredibly graceful on her feet, not noticeably superhuman until you watched her closely. Sometimes her limbs would move in a blur, and Peter wondered if she had some sort of super speed. 

The other fighter, a thin man that towered over the woman, had much more apparent powers. His hands sparked with what looked like electricity, which seemed to jolt his opponent based on her flinches every time he made contact with her bare skin.

Peter watched for a few seconds before deciding that the man was most likely going to win. The woman was looking more and more fatigued as the fight went on and had started to falter as the two traded blows. As he watched, the woman made a last attempt to win and lunged at the man.

Entranced in the way their bodies moved as they grappled with each other, Peter twitched in surprise when Daredevil cleared his throat.

“Oh sorry,” Peter said sheepishly, realizing the man must have said something when he wasn’t paying attention, “what were you saying?”

Daredevil sighed, “I need you to find someone for me. Search for him by the shadiest looking people, he won’t be a part of the mob.” Peter studied the crowd below him until he found a section of wealthy looking men all wearing suits, and unlike the rest of the people there, they had chairs and tables for the alcoholic beverages they were enjoying. Definitely shady-looking.

“I found some guys in the corner, they aren’t cheering, but they are watching with some interest.” Daredevil snorted in response.

“Probably placed bets.” Peter raised his eyebrows and glanced back towards the fight. The woman was still standing, but from the way she was swaying on her feet, it wouldn’t be long now.

“I’m looking for a man. Average height, bald, and probably not wearing a suit, can’t move around as much in those things. Do you see him?” Daredevil asked. Peter looked as directed for a man that matched the description and quickly found one. He was a weird-looking guy.

“I found someone who I think fits the bill, but he has this weird face tattoo. Like a bullseye? But it’s on his forehead, and I don’t know why anyone would want that because aren’t you just  _ asking _ to get-” Daredevil breaking into a stream of curses cut Peter off from his rambling.

“Damn, he’s back.”

“Whose back? That man? Why are we here, anyway? Are you going to bust this fight club, or are you just here for that guy? How would you even have done this without me if you couldn’t look for him?” Peter was tired of not knowing what they were doing, and Daredevil didn’t seem like he was going to explain any time soon without some prompting. 

“That guy’s an old enemy of mine. I had heard some chatter that he was back in New York and I guess it was true. That why we’re here. My original plan was to wait for someone to leave and interrogate them, this was a less risky option. As for the Freak Den, I couldn’t care less about how people make a living when it doesn’t harm people.” Peter raised his eyebrows at that, it  _ looked _ like it harmed people. Daredevil seemed to sense his thought process.

“I already checked; nobody’s forcing any of these people to fight, so I’m not going to stick my nose in it when there are human traffickers I could be putting down,” Daredevil explained, annoyed at being questioned, but Peter had heard something that made him pause.

“Make a living? You mean these people are fighting for money?” Suddenly a really horrible idea popped into Peter’s head, and his eyes snapped back to the fight as an eruption of cheers resounded from below.

The woman had been thrown violently to the floor by the man, and she was knocked out cold. The man raised his hands towards the ceiling in victory and let out a stream of sparks as the crowd went wild. Peter saw some spectators exchanging bills after most likely losing a bet, but then his attention was back on the victor. The electricity man was walking towards the shady-looking guys in the corner before he stopped in front of them expectantly.

Peter’s mouth fell open when one of the guys in suits stood up and handed over a massive wad of cash.

It was enough money to pay the rent for their apartment for at least three months!

“Kid,” Daredevil’s voice interrupted Peter’s musings, “we should get going.” Peter nodded and then remembered that Daredevil was blind and verbally assented.

As he turned away, Peter saw two more contenders step into the ring, and he thought about his idea.


End file.
